This invention relates to a pet litter box, and more specifically, to a disposable pet litter box which can be purchased by the consumer which is completely sealed with absorbent granular material inside and which can be easily opened to form a tray for access by the pet and then discarded when the granular material is saturated or malodorous.
Pet litter boxes are well known to the art. Pet owners, particularly cat owners, often provide a pet litter box filled with absorbent granular material in which the household pet can relieve itself. Often, these pet litter boxes are relatively sturdy boxes formed of a heavy plastic, metal or wood, in which the pet owner deposits the granular material. As the pet uses the litter box for urination and defecation, the granular material absorbs the moisture and most of the odor. The granular material becomes saturated and malodorous and must be removed and discarded and the box or container must then be cleaned and disinfected to remove any lingering odors or soil. Cleaning and disinfecting a pet litter box is an unpleasant task for pet owners and one that most pet owners would avoid if possible. It is, therefore, desirable to have a self-contained pet litter box having an adequate amount of granular absorbent material contained inside, a box that is waterproof to prevent leakage, widely openable to allow access by the pet, and disposable when the granular material becomes saturated so that the owner merely has to discard the entire container with granular material and waste inside and replace it with a fresh container. In order to construct such a disposable pet litter box that is sturdy, moisture resistant, and economical to use and discard, the container should be constructed of a moisture impervious, semi-rigid material such as laminated paperboard or cardboard and be economical to manufacture and non-wasteful to discard.
Many disposable pet litter boxes are known to the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,741,223 to Winborn discloses an animal commode having a shallow rectangular container, granular absorbent material enclosed therein, and a open top wall to allow access by the animal. U.S. Pat. No. 4,627,381 to Reed et al discloses a disposable tray and stand for holding litter whereby a lid is removable and serves to support the pan. U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,606 to Coppola discloses a disposable multiple litter tray assembly for use by cats and other small animals. The trays are made of pliable material and are stackable in the unused condition and separable for use with each of the stackable trays having its own granular litter material.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,111 to Runion discloses a disposable litter box designed to be placed within a permanent housing and withdrawn from the housing for use by the animal. U.S. Pat. No. 4,541,360 to Higgins et al discloses a disposable animal litter box having a bottom panel and side panels with a foldable corner assembly used to render the bottom container substantially fluid tight. U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,360 to O'Connor provides a disposable litter box and package consisting of a rectangular box, a bag, and an insert to hold the bag against the inner walls of the container.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,271,787 to Wellman et al discloses a disposable container having a plurality of self-contained litter boxes housed in a stacked relation within a container. Each of the litter boxes includes a removable top cover for removal to expose granular litter material inside. As each litter box becomes soiled, the box is removed from the container and disposed of and the cover of the subjacent box is removed to provide access for the animal. U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,198 to Mossbarger discloses a throw-away cat litter box having a lid hingedly attached to the base container, the lid can be lifted up to expose the granular litter material inside.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,441,451 to Neal discloses another disposable kitty litter box having a box bottom and a box top sized so that the box top can fit under the box bottom to serve an an additional moisture barrier for the bottom and lower side walls of the box bottom. U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,544 to Noonan et al also discloses a disposable cat litter holding means having foldable end flaps which cooperate with side wall means to create a foldable and secure disposable box. U.S. Pat. No. 4,164,314 to Edgar, discloses a single use disposable cat litter package formed of paperboard having vertical sides with a foldable top edge designed to fold inward from the side to form a horizontal top and having adhesive means for securing the top sections closed and a flexible bag containing cat litter.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,745,975 to Prucha discloses a disposable pet relief structure including a container having a cover that can serve as a pet dish tray when removed from the container in use. U.S. Pat. No. 4,553,671 to Cheesman discloses a tear-open, compartmented cat litter container having a top wall member with a central perforated tear out portion, inside walls and outside walls and a chamber filled with a predetermined amount of animal litter material. U.S. Pat. No. 3,886,901 to Zeitter discloses a folded cat box and filler material package with tears along the longitudinal center of the top panel so that the top panel can be separated and folded back to expose the litter sealed inside.
Although it can be seen that there are many disposable pet litter devices known to the prior art, there are also many drawbacks associated with the design of these boxes. For example, some of the boxes require folding by the user requiring complex assembly instructions. Often, prior art containers are constructed in a two-piece style having a lid portion that must be removed to expose the internal area of the container and a tray portion that must be repositioned and set in the lid to provide the proper rigidity and moisture proofing. Finally, previous designs require the use of large sheets of container material to provide the proper moisture proofing and rigidity and are therefore not economical to manufacture.